Michael Mann on “Ken Cuccinelli’s Cloudy Judgment”

“Virginians deserve a governor who can take a sober look at scientific findings and recognize the threat to his own state,” writes Prof. Michael Mann, Penn State climate scientist and author of Dire Predictionsand The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars. Until the Virginia Supreme Court tossed out his case, state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who is running for governor, pursued a global warming denialist inquisition against Mann and his colleagues that was all about right-wing political ambition, with climate scientists as collateral damage.

In a victory for university scholars, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled on March 2, 2012, that Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli does not have the authority to demand the release of email and other documents related to the work of former University of Virginia climate scientist Michael Mann. Cuccinelli’s global warming denial machine fishing expedition had been criticized even by climate ‘skeptics’ who are no friends of Prof. Mann. It raised the chilling question of whether the university could protect researchers' ability to privately and freely correspond with one another. …

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's renewed 'Civil Investigative Demand' for documents relating to research at the University of Virginia by climate scientist Michael Mann is blatantly bogus in its purported interest in scientific integrity. But it is transparent in its willingness to use legal bullying to promote a rising radical right-wing politician. Global warming, climate policy, and Mann just happen to be available as stepping-stones.

In my judgment, Cuccinelli has no real interest in Michael Mann, nor the 39 other scientists named in the Civil Investigative Demand, nor in climate science. I think it’s evident he knows little about the world of scientific research and cares little for integrity in relating scientific research to public policy. This episode is entirely political. It’s fundamentally about advancing Cuccinelli’s position in the Republican/Tea Party and corporate campaign donor arena. …

One Response to Michael Mann on “Ken Cuccinelli’s Cloudy Judgment”

I have often wondered what it would take for these political aspirants to want to actually start to understand the science and its implications. Even if they did, I suspect the next move, of taking action ,would be heresy. When K.C's state starts to buckle from environmental/economic degradation, will the light bulb come on? From what I have seen to date, not likely.

The best action to take is to elect someone who is open to new ideas, evidence and critical thinking.